EXPO (EX-Incarcerated People Organizing)

Who is EXPO?

EXPO (EX-Incarcerated People Organizing) works to end mass incarceration, eliminate all forms of structural discrimination against formerly incarcerated people, and restore formerly incarcerated people to full participation in the life of our communities.

EXPO emerged in 2014 when formerly incarcerated people from around Wisconsin began to gather to discuss what it would look like to have our own statewide organization. Previously imprisoned women and men lead EXPO. Our members provide support to each other and organize to change Wisconsin’s unjust penal system. We receive support from family members of currently and formerly incarcerated people and allies who have not experienced incarceration. EXPO has active chapters in Milwaukee, Madison, and Eau Claire and we are developing chapters in Racine, Kenosha, Beloit, Green Bay, the Fox Cities, and Wausau. EXPO is a project of WISDOM, a statewide organization that links faith communities to work for justice.

Our signature campaign is to #CLOSEmsdf. Complete information is here.

Accomplishments: EXPO members have helped lead campaigns that prompted policymakers to:
• ban the box for federal jobs;
• ban the box for jobs in the City of Madison, City of Milwaukee and City of Racine;
• expand funding for Wisconsin’s Treatment Alternatives and Diversion (TAD) Program;
• reduce the use of solitary confinement in Wisconsin prisons; and
• expand funding for Wisconsin’s transitional jobs program.

You can get involved:
• join a local EXPO chapter;
• participate in an EXPO leadership development program;
• join a ROC Wisconsin policy workgroup;
• join a local ROC Wisconsin Task Force;
• ask an EXPO leader to give a presentation to your organization, congregation, or class;
• make a tax-deductible contribution to WISDOM to support the work of EXPO.Contact expogroupwi@gmail.com to get started!